Your guide to Florida's outdoors, by Sandra Friend, Florida's hiking expert, and her co-author John Keatley, covering the Florida Trail and other trails throughout Florida.

REI grand opening May 12-14 in Orlando metro

REI opens their second Florida store next weekend in Winter Park with a splashy grand opening celebration that spans three days, starting on Friday May 12. Expect a line outside when the doors open at 10 AM, as the first 200 to walk through the door receive a limited-edition CamelBak water bottle with a $10, $50 or $100 REI card inside that you can immediately spend on gear. Local outdoor groups, including the Florida Trail Association, will have displays and information on hand. There will be ongoing classes, live music, and food and beverages as well. Come for the party, stay for the gear!

Doors open at 9 AM on Saturday and 10 AM on Sunday, when the water bottle / gift card promotion will be repeated. So if you can’t get there for Friday morning, no problem!

Located between Orlando and Sanford along US 17/92 – Lynx bus route 103 – and within walking distance of the Amtrak and daily commuter Sunrail service in Winter Park, this will be an extremely convenient location for hikers arriving in Florida and planning a long distance hike on the Florida Trail to gear up before heading out to their starting point.

Built from the ground up, the new REI is a two-story building anchoring one corner of the busiest shopping complex in Winter Park. We look forward to giving you full details on what’s inside later this week!